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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

I did some layering with my Sally Hansen Going Green mani from earlier today. I'll let the photo's do all the talking.

Holiday Splendor, 2 coats - no topcoat
Blurred to show the sparkle, ouuu.

I got the Beyond The Mistletoe Color Club collection a few weeks ago and I'm so in love. Just look at Holiday Splendor. I dare you to say you don't love it as well (and mean it!).

Because of the layering I did Holiday Splendor looks very green in these photo's but it is slightly more blue IRL. I used two coats of Holiday Splendor and it applied wonderfully. The holographic glitter is absolutely UNREAL. You literally have to see it to understand just how radiant it truly is. I need to wear this as a full mani and not just swatch it.

First off, I want to give a HUGE shoutout to Abby fromLovely In Lacquer for making me a new banner for my blog. I am completely useless at tech stuff (the only editing I do to my photo's is adding my watermark and the occasional brightness level change) and she kindly offered 5 nail bloggers a free banner. THANK YOU, ABBY! I love it. :)

I have a quick post for you, I'm running a little behind today. I did this mani about a week and a half ago and loved it. The green is so vibrant!

Going Green, 3 coats - Seche Vite, 1 coat

Going Green is a beautiful grassy type of green with a gorgeous shimmer running throughout. Application was wonderful. I applied 3 coats and they were effortless. I did some layering with this which I will post later tonight. I'll give you a hint: think holographic glitter. Ouuu!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Blue Monday, round 2! Not too much to say in the intro except that I hope Mr.Hockey likes this blue polish, too. ;)

Bijou Blue, 3 coats - no topcoat

Bijou Blue is an absolutely gorgeous blue/aqua/teal but applied a little thin. I applied 3 coats and you could still see VNL although it wasn't as apparent IRL. (Apparently I'm lovin' me some abbreviations.) The shimmer gets me Every. Single. Time. Application was very good although like I said, a little thin. Just be careful that you don't flood your cuticles.

I wanted to add some bling to my mani and had been wanting to try out some of my new Color Club glitter polishes from the Backstage Pass collection, so I took out Platinum Record and went to town.

Platinum Record, 1 coat - Seche Vite, 1 coat

The silver glitters look black at some angles in my photo's but I can assure you that they are only silver. This glitter polish is comprised of large hexagon and micro-round silver glitter. They are densely packed into a rather thick, goopy clear base. Honestly, application was dreadful. Let me explain.

I put on the usual amount of polish I would use and tried applying like I usually do. This did not work. The glitters clumped and the clear base didn't cooperate or level at all. I took the tip of the applicator and had to place the glitters in a more appropriate order. It was time consuming and a little annoying but I love the effect it has on this mani. When I went out to the mall after applying this (of course I decide to go with the most annoying glitter to do as my full mani) I got a ton of compliments and comments on it. I was pleased and felt as though it made my effort worth while.

As I wore it, the rather thick coat of Seche that I applied seemed to be swallowed by the glitter because I could feel the edges of the hex glitter sticking out and could actually pick them off, which I did because I'm naughty like that. Haha. Oh well, mani's never last longer than 24-30 hours anyway! Oh, the life and times of a nail blogger. ;)

Happy Blue Monday! Today I have a polish to share with you that I am completely in love with: Orly Royal Navy. It should be no surprise who picked this polish out, none other than Mr.Polish himself. I swear, every one of you needs one of him. (Just not mine, he's taken, good & proper, haha.)

Royal Navy, 3 coats - no topcoat

Excuse the little bubbly thing on my ring nail

That aqua shimmer gets me every time. *drool*

How delightful is this polish?! I am so immensely in love with wearing blue polish it is crazy that I don't post blue mani's every day. Yesterday, a good friend of mine -- I will refer to him as "Mr.Hockey" -- said he loved when I wore blue and purple polish so this one's for you, good buddy. ;)

Royal Navy is a vivid, jelly-like blue with intense aqua/teal shimmer. I tried Googling the various types of blue so I could pin-point the exact name of this particular shade and the closest I came up with is "Ultramarine" (if you click the link check out the second "synthetic" ultramarine blue).

Application was good, a little thick, but nothing that a little patience couldn't help with. My advice is to polish a couple nails and then put the applicator back in the bottle and gently roll it between your palms a couple times. I found that the polish tends to build around the bottle neck and that's where you can run into some issues. Next time I will add a couple drops of polish thinner, that should fix it.

What's your favourite blue polish? Okay, okay, you can chose your top 5 - chosing only one would be cruel. ;)

Sunday, January 29, 2012

I have found a new obsession inside of my polish world: finding dupes. Well, perhaps not 100% dupes, however I love the thrill of finding polishes that have the same "this" or "that", etc.

Last year I found GOSH Mystical. It was right after I started seeing Revlon Perplex and I knew I had to buy it because I couldn't find Perplex anywhere. Flash forward to about a week ago. Enter, Revlon Naughty. Well, well, well. It looks like Revlon is up to their usual tricky ways with re-naming their polishes!

(I also purchased "Popular" and which is the exact same as "Starry Night" from their Expressionists Winter 2011 Collection because I had already bought Blue Mosaic and Facets of Fuchsia ... yeah, they renamed and relaunched those as well. I can't really complain though, because it gives polish junkies like us -- as well as the general population -- another chance to grab up these awesome polishes.)

Anyway, back on subject, I grabbed Naughty (Popular, Smoldering and Whimsical came home with me too) and went home feeling very pleased with myself. I grabbed my bottle of GOSH Mystical and did this whole mini-gasp-mild-freak-out and showed Mr.Polish my potential dupes. He smiled, went into the family room, and watched American Idol. LOL! I followed him and started polishing...

Mystical, pinky and middle - Naughty, ring and index

3 coats each, no topcoat

Naughty, index and ring - Mystical, middle and pinky

Naughty, index and ring - Mystical, middle and pinky

Naughty, index and ring - Mystical, middle and pinky

Naughty, index and ring - Mystical, middle and pinky

As you can see from the above photo's they are in fact not quite dupes. In order for me to classify 2 polishes as dupes I want to see ZERO difference between them. Okay, okay, less than 0.07% of a difference. ;)

Naughty leans more purple/taupe and the shimmer is more lilac-based whereas Mystical is more brown/grey or "greige" with more of a pink shimmer. They were both easy to apply. I used 3 coats for these photo's however Revlon's Naughty was very well pigmented really needed just the two coats, but I thought for comparison's sake, it's best to judge them with the same variables.

Honestly, these aren't close enough for me to call them dupes but they are definitely "sisters" in my mind. I really wish I had the original Perplex or even Chanel's Paradoxal (PUH-lease, not happening any time soon, hah) to swatch and compare. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed my first foray into the world of dupes. As I come across more in my collection, I will be sure to post about it!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Today I have a mani that I am so excited to share with you. Newspaper nails! I first saw this last spring and have been wanting to try it ever since. I'm very happy that it was included in the 2012 Mani Challenge because it gave me the opportunity to try it out.

I first started with a nude polish, I chose Essie Brooch The Subject from their Winter 2011 collection. I probably should have chosen a light grey, but hey - my nails, my choices, right? ;)

Brooch The Subject, 3 coats - no topcoat

I had slight application issues with Brooch The Subject, but nothing too dramatic. It wouldn't quite level out on my ring finger, but I could deal with that because I knew I would be newspapering over it and adding a coat of Seche Vite...

Newspaper ink + 1 coat of Seche Vite

This mani is ridiculously easy. Do you have either rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide and a newspaper? Good, you can do this mani.

In the directions that I read online, it specifically said "rubbing alcohol" but I only had hydrogen peroxide on hand and decided, what the heck, might as well, right? I tried it and it was excellent. Here is my quick tutorial:

1. Paint your nails a light base colour, let dry.

2. Cut out little squares of newspaper.

3. Get a piece of paper towel wet with rubbing alcohol/hydrogen peroxide.

Important note, do not get your hands/nails wet before applying your topcoat: the newspaper ink will come right off! Also, your fingertips will probably be a bit inky, so wash your hands after your topcoat dries. I tried doing some cuticle clean up with polish remover and it was a no-go. Simple soap and water worked best.

Good morning! Today I have for you a gorgeous polish that you have probably seen a dozen (or more) times in the past month or so. Orly Androgynie. Let's get straight to the photo's and then I'll dish on this complex polish.

Androgynie, 2 coats - Seche Vite, 1 coat

I have to start with one huge WOW.

Okay, now that that's out of my system, let's chat. Androgynie is a black/brown base with hex and micro glitter. The colours of the hex glitter that I can see in my bottle are: lime green, teal, royal blue, orange and gold. Unfortunately, said glitters sunk to the bottom of my bottle and I had to shake vigorously prior to applying to ensure that I would get some onto the nail.

All that said, what a striking and unique beauty! Mr.Polish found this at the local Sally's and immediately assured me that this would be coming home with us. Bless him and his unique polish-lovin' heart. :)

Two coats was needed to create what you see above. Next time I think I will layer it over black to save polish and add a little bit more depth. This mani really reminds me of a galaxy mani, without any effort at all. (Unless you count the vigorous shaking as effort, haha.)

Friday, January 27, 2012

I'm back again with my second post today and with another polish colour that I don't wear too often: orange. I found this polish while perusing a Sally Hansen brand I don't usually pay much attention to which is their Diamond Strength line. I'm somewhat disappointed, yet again, at the lack of shimmer showing up in the photo's. Feel free to enlarge them so you can catch a glimpse of the green shimmer.

Sunrise, Sunset - 3 coats, no topcoat

I wore this all day and when I got home from work Mr.Polish had a wonderful surprise waiting for me. He had gotten a phone call during the day from Sally's saying that Twisted and Flashy were in stock and that they were put on hold for me. Being the sweetheart that he is he went and picked them up for me. I took Flashy and worked a little magic on Sunrise, Sunset ...

Flashy, 1 coat over "Sunrise, Sunset"

Sunrise, Sunset is warm medium toned orange with green shimmer throughout. Application was a little thin and after 3 coats of polish I could faintly see VNL. I think this polish would look amazing layered over another polish, perhaps a deep red or black.

Flashy is an orange/green flakie but you can see gold as well in the colour shift. I have read around the blogosphere that this is the flakie polish that has the most amount of dupes available -- Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, Nubar 2010, Essie Shine of the Times, etc -- so if you can't get your hands on this one, chances are that if you have the dupe, you'll be okay.

At the time of getting this polish I didn't own any of those so I was very happy to add this to my collection. (Since then I have purchased Essie Shine of the Times because I'm a flakie-freak, haha.)

As of today you can expect 2 posts a day for the next week or so. I want to get through a back-log of photo's to try and get through all of my un-tried nail polishes. (Practically 80% of my collection is still un-trieds and I'm working at getting through them all. This project will definitely take me at least this full year. Might as well start now!)

I don't show too many Orly polishes and I wanted to share another one with you today.

Moonlit Madness, 2 coats

1 coat Seche Vite on top

When I first bought this polish I thought it was a deep berry colour. When I applied it, it appeared much more red toned, which I ended up loving. Whenever I wear red polish I feel very self conscious. I've mentioned my aversion to this particular polish colour in one of my posts last summer but I think I'm slowly getting over it the more I wear it.

Moonlit Madness. First off, the name makes zero sense to me. That aside, I am in love with this polish. It applied evenly, no dragging, brush-strokes, etc. Well pigmented too, although I could have applied a 3rd coat to make sure everything was covered evenly. The shimmer is beautiful as well. I kept twisting and turning my hands to look at it from all angles. Normal, right?

I saw many different interpretations of this mani, but decided to draw my inspiration from fashion instead. To me, the Gucci version is what I immediately think of when I hear "color block" so that's what I decided to do mine like.

It's somewhat difficult to describe the polishes because of the small space they take up in this mani, but I will say that Orly Glitz is an absolutely gem of a polish. Beautiful, striking, glamorous. It applied nicely and dried quickly. The shimmer is just stunning. I really like the mix of crème and shimmer in this mani, it definitely stands out.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

You might have noticed that I took down the "On Wednesday's I Wear Pink" banner. I did this because I was finding it difficult to commit to two different colour-coordinated days. That being said, should I ever swatch or wear pink polish I will aim to post it on Wednesday, but it won't be the end of the world if I don't have a pink mani to post every Wednesday. My apologies to those who really love PW however I just do not wear enough of that polish colour to justify it with a specific day.

That being said, I have combined PW and my 2012 Mani Challenge. I made a tab up above dedicated to this challenge and have adjusted it slightly to my preferences. (Specifically, I took out the dates and listed them under the month so I can post them at my leisure rather than having such a specific time constraint.)

Onto the mani!

L.A. Colors Nail Lacquer in Flashy Fuschia, 3 coats without topcoat

Flashy Fucshia is the most perfect shimmery hot pink. Seriously. A dream to apply, nice formula, opaque at 3 coats. Bright and beautiful. After the base colour I took my L.A. Colors Art Deco polish stripers in White and Black as well as my Nail Star Two-Way Nail Art Pen in Purple to make a plaid design.

I cringe a little at my "plaid" design. I only posted one photo because I'm very self-conscious of this mani and promptly removed it after snapping a couple shots and running upstairs to show Mr.Polish who said he "liked it". Pfft. Anyway, there it is.

Are you participating in the 2012 mani challenge? I would LOVE to see your 2012 challenge mani's! I will post others who are doing them at the bottom of my challenge posts. Let me know in the comments if you would like to be included!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Ack, I didn't post yesterday ... I won't beat myself up over it too much though because I have posted a lot more in January than what I had expected of myself (as per my New Year's Resolutions). Anyway, let't not dwell on that, onto my Blue Monday mani!

OPI Roadhouse Blues, 2 coats

I only did 2 coats of polish for this one because I didn't want to add the third and risk making it so dark you can't tell it's blue. I absolutely love the colour of this polish and application was a breeze. I've fallen in love with my OPI's all over again - they truly are an amazing polish. I did add one layer of Seche Vite on top.

I want to mention quickly that if I don't mention topcoat, please assume that none was applied. I think I forgot to mention it in one of the Back To Boho parts that I did, but during that mini "series" I added NO topcoat to any of those swatches. The polishes in that collection dried incredibly glossy and absolutely amazing. I promise that from now on I will always state whether it was used or not so you know what to expect if you buy/wear it yourself. :)